Coimbatore commissioner told to explain `lapses’ during raids

CHENNAI, March 12: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today said the state had sought an explanation from the then Coimbatore city poli...

CHENNAI, March 12: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today said the state had sought an explanation from the then Coimbatore city police commissioner, Nanjil Kumaran, for his “lapses” in not effecting any seizure of explosives prior to the bomb blasts in the city.

At a press conference here, Karunanidhi denied any laxity on the part of the state govt in controlling the Islamic fundamentalists organisation’s activities in the state.

He said that on receipt of information from the Intelligence Bureau on January 19 that Al-Umma activists might take retaliatory action for

the communal violence, the state government acted with utmost “promptitude” and ordered raids all over the state to unearth explosives.

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Eighty one persons were arrested and 2019 country bombs, 586 gelatine sticks, 1595 detonators and 207 kg of other explosive substances were seized from 49 places. But the Coimbatore raids did not result in any seizure. The state had asked explanation from Nanjil Kumaran for this lapse, he said.

Kumaran had been removed from the post and made Inspector General of Police, Economic Offences wing.

Karunanidhi said that on December 21, the joint director of IB at Chennai had sent a report to the additional DGP (Intelligence) mentioning that Al-Umma activists might take retaliatory action for the November-December 1997 communal violence in Coimbatore. It also mentioned that their actions might be concentrated around Coimbatore city, the targets being police stations, the police commissioner’s office and gas tankers. This was communicated to the Coimbatore police authorities, the Chief Minister added.

On its receipt, the government held a high-level meeting on December 24, in which the threat was discussed and instructions issued to the police to maintain a close and continuous surveillance on the fundamentalist organisation. It was also decided to prepare a contingency plan to deal with the threat, he said.

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On January 25, the Union Home Ministry sent an alert message that Al Umma was planningbomb explosions in Coimbatore city during Ramzan. The government directed the district administration to take proper precautionary measures to deal with the situation, he said. On January 2, the IB director wrote a the Director General of Police, Tamil Nadu, conveying the IB joint director’s message. The information was passed on to local authorities at Coimbatore as a further warning, he said.

Karunanidhi said the Coimbatore police commissioner reported about various raids conducted by him, some of them with the assistance of the CRPF, which had not yielded in any seizures. He claimed that law and order was fully restored in the city within three hours of the blast.